800-CEO-READ New Releases

Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution

by Gary Harpst

(Six Disciplines Publishing, 208 Pages)

With all of the pressures successful business leaders have today, none is more urgent or challenging than learning the ability to execute strategy. While larger businesses have the luxury of budgets and resources to meet this challenge, it s the small and midsized businesses that now have a tremendous opportunity to level the playing field, leapfrog the expensive, outdated approaches of the past, and attack the challenge of execution in a revolutionary way. The key insights are:

Based on breakthrough research, field testing and proven best-practices, the thought-leading vision described by Gary Harpst in Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution sets a new course for how small and midsized businesses can finally confront the never-ending challenge of executing strategy.

As a follow-up to the success of Six Disciplines for Excellence, Harpst's new book, Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution, details the elements of a complete strategy execution program, clarifies how it could only have happened now, and explains why such a program will soon become a mainstream requirement for your business.

Good Is Not Enough

by Keith R. Wyche

(Portfolio, 256 Pages)

A no-nonsense guide for minorities in business who want to make it to senior management

In recent decades, corporate America has gotten better at recruiting minority talent. But despite their education and hard work, too many African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans still find unique obstacles on the path to senior management. And there are too few minority mentors available to help them understand and overcome these challenges.

Keith R. Wyche, a division president at a Fortune 500 company, is the perfect mentor for ambitious minority businesspeople at all levels. His book is filled with thought-provoking insights and practical advice based on his own experiences and those of the many people he has counseled. He discusses the importance of:

• Understanding corporate culture—and the impact it has on your career

• Being visible—because you can’t get ahead if nobody knows who you are

• Staying current—why minorities must be continuous learners

Good Is Not Enough also includes anecdotes from prominent CEOs such as Ken Chenault of American Express, Richard Parsons of Time Warner, and Aylwin Lewis of Kmart.

The Age Curve

by Kenneth W. Gronbach

(Amacom Books, 288 Pages)

For years, marketers have held on to unwavering beliefs that have dictated how they market to their consumers. But the hard truth is that the changes we see in marketing and business are based on one undeniable factor--the size of the generations we are selling to. As each generation ages, what they buy and how much they buy will change. Each product and service has a "best customer" that sustains a business. As these customers grow up, the smartest marketers will stay ahead of them--and their money. In The Age Curve, marketing guru Kenneth Gronbach shows executives and entrepreneurs how to anticipate this wave of predictable demand and ride it to success. Using impeccable research, Gronbach reveals how our largest generations, the Baby Boomers and Generation Y, are redefining how we market and how businesses can anticipate their needs more effectively. Complete with entertaining examples of companies like Apple who have perfected their strategies for building a loyal customer base, as well as those who haven't (Levi Strauss and Honda Motorcycle), this book will show readers: how to determine their best customers * how successful companies are earning the loyalty of Generation Y and cultivating allegiance to their products for years to come * why Generation X is a much less valuable market than any of us have been led to believe * and much more Both shocking and compelling, The Age Curve will change the way companies look at their customers and how they market to them.

The Gridlock Economy

by Michael Heller

(Basic Books, 304 Pages)

Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000

by Pete Blackshaw

(Doubleday, 208 Pages)

Book Description

In today’s Internet-driven world, customers have more power than ever. Through what interactive marketing expert Pete Blackshaw calls "consumer-generated media"—blogs, social networking pages, message boards, product review sites—even a single disgruntled customer can broadcast his complaints to an audience of millions. Blackshaw shows managers, marketers, and business leaders how to establish and maintain credibility for their brand by being authentic, listening and responding to customers, and forming relationships built on openness, transparency, and trust.

Filled with stories based on his experience working with Fortune 500 brands such as Toyota, Dell, Nike, Sony, General Motors, Unilever, Nestlé, Southwest Airlines, and Bank of America, Blackshaw offers a clear strategy to sustain a competitive advantage by creating enduring, loyal relationships with today’s consumer.

Execution Premium

by Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton

(Harvard Business School Pr, 0 Pages)

Ahead of the Curve

by Philip Delves Broughton

(Penguin Pr, 256 Pages)

Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office

by Russ Edelman, Charles G. Manz, Tim Hiltabiddle

(Portfolio, 176 Pages)

From Publishers Weekly

In this winning success guide, the authors expose Nice Guy Syndrome, where the afflicted—overly selfless men and women—give away their power in the workplace and often face frustration and career derailment. While 61% of Americans believe that niceness impedes business success, the authors argue that the condition is correctable, and it is possible to succeed without resorting to aggression or excessive competitiveness. Their Bill of Rights—eight rights and corresponding strategies emphasizing self-awareness and setting boundaries—will aid readers in fending off the typical mistakes nice guys make: valuing agreeableness over assertiveness, overcommitting and prioritizing other people's needs. Equally valuable are the authors' demonstration of the roots of self-sabotaging behavior and the revelation that certain nice guy behaviors may be less well-intentioned than they seem. Drawing on extensive interviews with 350 business professionals and an assortment of celebrity CEOs, this well-organized and psychologically astute book excels in its presentation of a simple and encouraging message: that nice doesn't have to mean weak and that nice guys can make it to the top. (Aug.) "" Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."